Last week I made J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Simmered Daikon Radish (Daikon No Nimono) recipe from The Wok.

Daikon slices (about an inch thick) with a beveled edge to prevent splitting are simmered in a broth of dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar.

Kenji describes a parchment paper otoshibuta in the pages leading up to the recipe to use to cover the simmering radish. It’s basically the same method for making bamboo steamer liners from parchment paper, except only the center hole is cut to allow steam to escape. This is placed directly on top of the simmering vegetable.

The daikon is simmered with periodic flipping for at least 20 minutes and up to 45 minutes and then served with some optional ingredients. Kenji suggests choosing one or two from his list of options. We opted for edamame and sesame seeds.

The end result was unfortunately on the bland side. In the introduction to the recipe, Kenji mentions that some people “reduce the broth until it’s almost a glaze.” I think it could be a lot better like that. As is, I don’t expect to make this one again.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.